Family comes first for Freeport chamber honoree

Jenny Jorge honored by Nassau County Chambers of Commerce

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Walking through the produce aisle of Gala Foods Supermarket on Merrick Road in Freeport, Jenny Jorge, 35, vice president of operations, stopped at the tomatoes and checked them for freshness and quality. It was a routine walk-through of the store, and a chance for Jorge to chat with employees, she said.

The Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce recognized Jorge (pronounced HORE-hay) as the Freeport Businessperson of the Year at a breakfast at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury on Oct. 19. She did not expect the honor, she said, which was humbling to receive.

The Jorge family has been in the supermarket business since 1978. By 1995, the patriarch of the family, Jenny’s father, Francisco, and her uncle Jose Jorge opened their first supermarket, an Associated, and eventually converted it to a Compare Foods. Jenny said that her earliest memories were of her family working in the supermarket. By age 15, she had joined them.

“My dad wanted us to learn early,” she said, “and he had us start at entry-level, like working the register or even slicing the deli meats.”

Jenny grew up in Malverne and graduated from Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale in 2001. She went on to earn a degree in psychology from Fordham University in 2005. While there she took classes in organizational and industrial psychology, which led to her interest in business.

After graduation, she was the first of her three siblings to join the family business, working with her father. In 2008 she completed her MBA degree at Fordham. She was instrumental in the family’s launch of GalaFresh Farms and Gala Foods Supermarkets.

Jorge said she knew she would work next to her father, and feels fortunate that she can spend time with him nearly every day. It hasn’t always been easy, however. Because she was the company owner’s daughter, she felt she had to prove herself to the 90 employees at the supermarket.

“There is a little pressure sometimes,” she said. “One of the greatest challenges was proving to employees that they could trust [me], and that I knew what I was doing, while looking out for their greater good.”

Francisco Jorge spoke admiringly of his daughter’s devotion to the family business. “I’m really proud of her,” he said. “I think she enjoys doing this, and maybe she’ll change her mind later on, but to me, it means that she gives me a lot more free time to do what I want to do like travel and [take] it easy.”

Three of the four Jorge children — Omar, 37, Jenny and Franky, 30 — are involved in the day-to-day operations of five supermarkets on Long Island and in North Carolina and New Jersey. Franky handles the Baldwin store, on Grand Avenue, and Omar, the two stores in North Carolina, leaving Jenny and her dad to manage the Freeport and New Jersey stores. The youngest Jorge — Natalie, 29 — is an assistant teacher in New York City.

Jenny said the family business is about more than running supermarkets. “It’s about being a place families can come together through food,” she said.

Over the years, she has been heavily involved in the Freeport community. Though she lives in Baldwin, she considers Freeport home. The Jorges are also longtime Freeport Chamber of Commerce members, with Jenny now serving as second vice president. Working with the organization, she said, has given her and her family many opportunities to get involved in Freeport and give back to the community.

“Jenny and her family have always been super-active in Freeport and always willing to extend a helping hand,” said Ivan Sayles, the chamber president. “They care about the community as much as they care about their business, which I think is their recipe for success.”

Through her volunteer work in the community, Jorge has helped the Freeport Schools PTA Council, the Salvation Army, the Police Benevolent Association and local Little Leagues. GalaFresh has also sponsored the Freeport Men’s Softball League, which launched in May.

“The Businessperson of the Year is beyond just owning a business,” Sayles said. “It’s about also having a commitment to our community.”